The Sun. — London, England, 1864-01-07 00:00:00

S ONNET'S SI LKS a LYON —Every Article of commerce talc ?s its title either from the inventor or manufacturer. and t he more perfect the production the grater is the crtdit A hidi attaches to the originator. BONNET'S SIT.K. ; are said to be incapable of identifica tion in England ; but the fallacy of such an assertion is ex pos:A by the very trad. 3 mark of the firm, as exhibited by Messrs.. TAY, of Regent-street. The following inter woven mark may be seen at the end °teach piece :—" 31anto acture de C. J. Bonnet et Cie., a Lyon a. Injurieux." I.Vetr guaranteed. ROYAL E NGLISH OPERA, co - vi Under the Manac_ret nent of Miss Louisa Pyae and Mr. W. Harrison. TRI EVENING, to commence with (4th time) an en tirely new Operetta, e ntit ed FAN CEI ET 2E. Miss Louisa rync and vlr. W. Harcko tt. Atter which, a Grand Iristmas Pantomime, on a s,:ale of uni,lecedented miLnific eu ce, ntitled IiAItLEQUIN ST. 1E ORGE AND THE DRAGON. Doors open at halt '- 3 past Six--;: omm ence at Seven. rip FIEAT RE is DYAn,L D U R Y-L AN E. Managers, Messrs. Edmond Falconer and r. B. Chatterton. THIS FYI :STING, the Farce of A ROLAND FOR AN OL I VEtt. 3 les-rs. Walter Lacy, Addison, G. itelmore, the Misses HE. ,th, R. Leclercq, Murray. fo conclud e with the new Grand ;Corahrstmas Comic Panto mime of SINIBAD THE SAILOR The Seven Wonders of th Won 1.. Clowns, Messrs. H. Boleno and C. Lauri ; harlequins, essrs. J. Cormack and S. Saville ; Pantaloons, 31e,,srs. W. A.. Barns and J. aiorris ; Columbines, nadame Boleno and M Isses Gunniss. Prices as Box Office open from 10 till 5 daily. OYAL. LYCEUM THEATRE. Under tl to Sole Management of Mr, Fechter. BEL D14.1N101 , 71 r0 (a Triumphant Success) will be repeated Ev ery Evening di tring the Week. EVENIN . G, the performance will commence with a New a nd Or ginal Farce, entitled THE LOST CHILD : s. H. Widdicomhe, Shore, Garden, F. Charles Collett, Moreland; Misses rel'Cy, Pauline LeJlercq, Wood, Mrs. Lee, and Miss E. Lavenu. After which, at Eight o'clock, BEL DESION'IO, a Love ' dory, in Twelve Tableaux, taken from Stendhal's "Italian Chronicle ," by Mr. John Brouguam. Principal charac ter by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. Jordan, Charles J3rough S i , Emery, B.ii.ymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford: Collett, Sms ; Miss Kate Terry, E. Lavenu, Mrs. Lee, and bites Elsworthy. The Public are entrep.to to take notice that No Charge is made to the occupa.nts of Boxes, Box-places, or Stalls, either for play bills or to the safe keeping of hat and cloaks, and %sat the attendants iv all parts of the house are forbidden to re:Wive any gratuities 'whatever. Box-office open da.ily from 11 to 5. Commence at 7. FIEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.- Sole Lessee a rid Manager, Mr, Buckstone. THIS EVENING, 0 UR AMERICAN COUSIN: Messrs. Sothern, Buckstone, C.bippendale, Braid, Gordon, Rogers, ClArk, Cullentord, &c. ; Mesdames Angel, Snowden, Terry, Lindley, Hill, &c After which. KING AET HUR ; or The Days and Knights of the Round fable. Messrs. Chipoendaie, Compton. Braid, Clark, Rogers, Tilbury, &c. ; Mesdames L. Keeley , Brough , Wright, Terry, Lindley, Rogers, &c. Commence at 7. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.- - Sole Lesee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. THIS EVENING, THE HONEYMOON. After which, HARL:4AQITIN LITTLE TOM TUCKER; or The Fine Lady of Banbury Cross, and the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe avid Had so Many Children she didn't know what to do. R OYAL ST, JAMES'S THEATRE, under the Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER. GREAT SUI:CESS. ------- - EVERY EVENING, the HEN AND CHICKENS Mrs. Stirling in her original character. After which, a Comical Conglomemtive Christmas Absur dity, entitled Mil ; or. THE SENSATIONS OF THE PAST SEASON, with a 6harnetul Revelation of Lad/ Somebody's Secret. Mr. .1. L. Toole, Mr. l'aul Bedford, Miss Cottrell, bliss Fa.my Josephs, Witii the BIRTHPLACE OF PODGERS: Mr. J. L. Toole. The celebrated Mr. and Mrs. CHARLES MATHEWS, Dlcnday, January 11. W T HEATRE-R0 YAL, ADELPHI, \..11 :3431e Proprietor and Manager, M 7. B. , A'ebster. Tart; EVENING, THE SPIT ALFIELDS WEAVER: mfr. J. 1.. Toole. at to Eight, the New Drama of LEAH : Miss Bate- Ilan, supported by Messrs.A.7thur Stirling, R. Phillips, Bil bagton, Stuart, Stephenson, Lburne; Miss H. Simms, and Mrs. Billing ton. To e,,nelude with LADY BELLE BELLE; or, Fortunio and his Sevetilgagi3 Men. Messrs. J. C/arke, it. Stephenson ; Miss Woolgar, Miss K. Kelly, Miss _Patti jose,hs, Miss L. Laidlaw, Miss Seaman. • - Commence at 7. LEA H.-EVERY NIGHT, MISS BATEMAN.-LEAH.-THIS EVENING, . the 84th appearance of the great Tragic Actress, Miss BA TEMA:4, in the character of LEAH. In c msequenee of the unbounded success with which Miss Bateman's imperso nation of the priLcipal character in the new Five Act Drama of LEAH has been attended. Mr Webster begs to announce that it wilt be performed EVERY EVENING until further notice. 101 OY AL STRAND THEATRE. f auaAut an. n. ti. a wanuorough. 11. THIS EITENING, ORANGE BLOSSOMS : Miss K. Cardou. Atter whit h, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, ORPHEUS A ND EUR r 010 E : Messrs. Honey, Wood, James Fenton, Mesdames S wanborough, Marie Wilton, Hughes, &c. jp concluc with TURN HIM OUP. Commence at 7. 111 HE T] ITIID EDITION OF " THE SUN," Contain ing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, : an be bad E very Evening of G. I. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. HIGEi WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tins DAY.- -Morning, h. m.—Afternoon, 12h. 20m, E o-td o Batow .-Morning, 12d. 50m.—Afternoon, lh. 16m, The Weather—Sun Office, Jan. 7, 1864. THERMOMETER. This day at Two o'clock Barometer-30.11 :Wind—N. ; moderate, and foggy, with severe frost, - t , ;-,,,,1 , 15 , . --4 , t att6.o: -fad ,_.,(Thiir t .4.,--....,,,,...,......,..44„,_ 4,,J ) LONDON, THURSDAY, JAN. 7, 1864. There is no question more difficult to deal with, or that furnishes more ground for discussion, than the subjecf ;, of capital punishments. It is an awful conaerati on whichever way it is taken, and the only chanc a of arriving at a dispassionate conclu sion is to afeign calmly all the pros and cons of the affair, to t a ke note of the various eof,flicting claims, an d thus 1,0 arrive, as far as possible, at a safe ana satisfactory opinion. The objections that were once so prevalent against the practice of capital punishments on principle are seldom now put for ward, so that these formidable opponents are not arrayed against those who essay to place the ques tion on a right footing. It is of the utmost conse queace that it should be definitively understood at once and for ever on what basis this law is founded, and how far it will work, and how soon stop short of the isiguirements expected of it. No real and lasting go od can ever be really gained unless this solemn ax d severe infliction be comprehended as an exiatin g statute, not as an occasional penalty, to be enforce d or put aside according to the chance of changing; circumstances, or the will and pleasure of differing individuals. For the law to reign in terror an it absolutism over the minds of malefactors, it is abs o lately requisite and especially essential that they should be firraty convinced that, if they break the Commandments of their Maker and in fringe tb.e laws of their country, their doom is sealed. /nstice would be infinitely better served, and mer cy would have more real scope, if these primary c onsiderations were attended to. It is to be regre - tted that for some inexplicable reason all the old style of things is changed, and it would appear as if this generation, with its mistaken kind ness and maudlin philanthropy, were resolved that they would not take the responsibility upon themselves of meting out to the sinner his measure. It is a disastrous state of things, and deeply to be regretted on every account. It is sapping the root of all justice, and under. mining the strongholds of authority. When once it has been settled what is and what is not our duty in any special service or in any particular branch, it becomes a real kindness to perform it boldly, bravely, and unflinchingly, No half measures, no hesitating manner, w ill d o ; and surely, to check the spread of an evil that will be :ome, without very desperate cures are tried, quite a national calamity, is no light tsak, no work that can with prop be left to chance, but it must be into aceonnt with energy and resolution taken Ihe practice now so prevalent of arresting execu tions being carried into effect cannot be too severely cerimured nor tco strongly reprobated. It is fraugh wlth danger, and replete with evil conseqtiences. It is establishing a precedent from which it will be difficult to depart, and instituting a custom that it will be almost impossible to recede from. It is high time that this subject was taken up at once by those most competent to deal with it, and re garded in the only light in which it can be viewed, with clearness and perspicacity. As it is, the weak-minded and self-pitying ones of humanity are making extraordinary efforts to undo all the good that long years of watchfulness and the stern enactments of justice have been bringing about. The consequences of ail this will be that in a short time those who are now but half converted, or per naps even without scrup,es, wiil be conv,nced that the extreme penalty of the law cannot be enforced any longer—that it is a remnant of the barbarous ages, and must militate against our doctrines of mercy. The experience of all time, and the attesta tion of those most competent to give an opinion, all concur in stating that for murder there is but one deterring influence of any weight, and tha', is the dread of death, and the horror of , an ignominious end. These are the only cherries to the dark and dreadful deeds at which ' r e - leaven frowns, and which earth refuses to hide. It is the only true way to put a stop to the com mission of the worst of crime to hold out the terrible penalty of death. As is always the case with sentimentalists, the real victims'are left uapitied ; the, nameless mar tyrs who have been hurried unprepared into eternity, who have bean snatched from ,be enjoyments of life, perhaps in the prime of their years, with families dependent on them for support, are of no account; but the hcrdened ruffian, the ruthless villain, the cruel destroyer of his kind, is the object of universal symyathy, and the theme of deep-rooted pity. What can be a greater prostitution of the softer and gentler feelings of the heart. Such a practice is very much at variance with all that the dictates of common-sense would enjoin, and totally distiuct from the holy nature of sorrow for the sinner'which should animate every Christian spirit. Real philanthropists would grieve for and with the offender because of the enormity of his guilt, not la ment on account of his having to endure its chastise. ment. This infliction is not the serious part of the affair to the understanding of those who rightly view, and fully comprehend such subjects. It is much to be regretted that so much inconsistency should prevail with regard to the carrying out of the sentences decreed by the Courts that sit in judgment on the murderer. When the sentence is pronounced, who can feel impressed with its solem nity when they reflect that in all probability it may never be carried out at all ; and again, this uncertain sty le of action is very unfair to the prisoner, because it is not likely that the condemned one will address himself to the consideration of such serious subjects as his awful doom imperatively demands, when he is buoying up his hopes with the notion that a reprieve wilt be obtained, and his fate averted. The constant recur rence of the practice of declaring that the guilty parties are suffering from mental aberration is a most pernicious one, as it makes a loophole for every crime, and will finally serve to account for the com mission of all murders. This laxity and temporis ing will not do. It must be very much altered or altogether abolished. Let it be distinctly under stood, whether we are to have capital punishment for murderers or not, and if we are, let some more sure safeguards be adopted to secure the carrying out of the sentence. It is a mockery of justice, and a subversion of all right influence—the offended ma jesty of the law is set at nought, and the very van tage g round of authority undermined, by this capricious mode of revising the codes of our laws, and subverting the decisions arrived at by the time-honoured institution of the land. Of what avail is all the paraphernalia of courts and the cogitations of judges, if a subsequent investigation is at hand to alter all pre-arranged forms, and to stop the execution of the stern sentence of justice. The sooner all this anomalous proceeding is righted, the better it will be for the vital interests of society. There are, proverbially, two sides to every ques tion, and the gaiety and rejoicing which mark this restive season in the abodes of wealth and luxury form a strange sad contrast to the wretchedness visible in the miserable, squalid homes of so many thou sands in this great metropolis. Among all the brilliant galaxy of Christmas books which have as usual appeared at this peculiar epoch of hospitality and gift-giving, one little book which makes no pretension to that title appears to us to be super-eminently a Christmas Book.* It is evidently inspired by the truest and most rational benevolence, and it appeals in the irresistible language of plain facts and sober common-sense to those human sympathies which ought more especially to abound at this season of nominal charity and benevolence. In some hun dred and twenty graphic pages, and some forty or fifty dreadfully truth-telling illustrations, Mr. GODWIN has given a picture of the homes —if they can be called homes !—of the poor of London, which is enough to appal the thoughtless and make the boldest shudder. Gladly would we take refuge in incredulity, but, alas ! the facts are too substantial. Gnastly and ghostlike as they are their reality is only more painfully apparent when exposed to the searching investigation of daylight. In one page we recognise the pestilential vapours insidiously arising from the poisonous cellars, above which, " unconscious of their doom," little children are playing. In another page the crowded work room, and again the closely-packed sleeping cham bers, or rather sleeping holes, where entire families are stowed away, " show the eyes and grieve the hearts" of all who may chance to turn over this most impressive little volume. " The way in which life is short ened, health depreciated, happiness prevented, how the manners are degraded, and crime and sorrow increased," it has been Mr. GODWIN'S object in this work to demonstrate, and very truth fully and very effectively has ho performed his self appointed task. Unfortunately his pictures are taken from the life, and cannot be gainsayed. Here is a painful illustration : We trust that the day is not far distant when compul sory drainage, thoroughly carried out, will be made a rule in connexion with the dwellings of the poor. Remarking that the scavengers perform their duty very badly, we pass on to Hartshorn -court, a singular locality, which, with the parts adjoining, is inhabited to great a extent by thieves and the most dangerous characters. This is the entrance to a labyrinth of courts which, like the intricate workings of a Gloucestershire iron-mine, lead in all manner of curious and mysterious directions. In front of five houses is a kind of square, which formerly has probably been occupied as gardens; hero swarms of children peer curiously out, neglected little creatures, so forlorn, so helpless for good, that the first impulse is to ask—What is to become of them ? What path in life, according to present arrangements, are they fitted for ? What, except by chance, is there for them but beggary or the prison ? The houses mentioned are single houses (ono room deep), without any openings at the back. Like those previously alluded to, these dwellings are, so far as exterior is concerned not in bad repair, buy anything worse than the interiors cannot be easily imagined. Let us step up one of the dark narrow staircases; in one room, on the door being opened, a man had risen hastily from his bed ; a strong active look ing woman was there, and from the mass of rags swarmed out a number of children (it was about ten o'clock in the morning). Few could look at these 'at:lp! a things wit h- * Another Blow for Life. By George Godwin, F.R.s. Allen and Co, out an aching heart : the faces, not ill-shaped, were massed with dirt, and they had scarcely a rag of cm , ering upon them ; there was no furniture in the room, the window was plastered with mud ; and the floor, although an able woman was there, had probably not been washed for months. Such dismal revelations, varied according to the circumstances of the locality, abound to such an extent as to render the summer reports of the Registrar-General a matter of no marvel. Just now the intense cold may enforce claims on temporary charity of a different description, but no one can turn a serious thought on the coLdition of the houses and haunts of the London Poor without heartily sympathising with this "Blow for Life" so appropriately struck at the preFient Christmas ssason. It is satisfactory, while the bitter winds are pain- fully reminding us of the privations of our Lanca shire countrymen, to find that the prospects of the cotton trade are decidedly encouraging. The progress of the American war is so slow and tedious, and the state to which the country at large and the cotton crops may be reduced at the close of it so uncertain, that it is gratifying to find other sources of supply opening to us, unaffected by such risks and uncer tainties. Another reason which must make us anxious to be in some degree independent of the States cotton, is the arrogance and insolence of the American Government, which may possibly at some future day involve us in hostilities. It is never wise, according to homely country wisdom, to " have all your eggs in one basket," and especially when that basket is in the hands of one who is at best a very questionable and capricious friend. The Americans have already reckoned too much on our dependence upon them, and there is no doubt that both North and South relied upon our need of cot ton for bringing us to their side. Whatever may be thought of the policy of our Government on this matter, there can be no question that the wisest course for us to follow, without regard to the con dition of the American States, is to encourage the cultivation of cotton in all parts of the globe where the soil and climate are favourable to its growth, and to hold out a prospect of a regular market for good cotton from whatever quarter it may come. According to the accounts read at a late meeting of the Cotton Supply Asso ciation, whose efforts have done so much towards stimulating enterprise, the experiments made in Southern Africa are highly successful. A letter from Natal asserts that nearly every planter in that colony has land under cultivation, and that mecha nics in the town are giving up their business to grow cotton. The yield is said to be at the high rate 300 lb. per acre, and the sample for warded is valued at 34d. to 36d. per lb. From Syria we learn that lack of irrigation has retarded this season's success with American seed ; but we have the authority of the British Vice-Consul at Latakia, North Syria, for anticipating that the quantity produced there will amount to 5,000 bales of 2 cwt. each. But there is one point that requires looking to. It is said that, owing to a lack of the means of transit to England, the greater part of the produce makes its way to France and Russia. The boats of their companies "are unable to take the quantity of cotton offered, and the last French steamer sent back 19 loaded lighters, while not a single English steamer has yet found it worth while to make its appearance." Nor is this the case in Syria alone, for the British Consul at Salonica, while te . ,ling us that from 3,000 to 4,000 bales are shipped weekly from thence, informs us at the came time that most of it goes to Marseilles, owing to the want of direct steam communication with England. Again, the Haytian Government have distinguished them selves by their efforts to stimulate the cultivation of cotton, and the result is that the last year's crop was expected to exceed 3,000,0001 b. while that of 1861, it is calculated, will probably reach 4,500,0001 b. Yet of this only a portion comes to us, the rest being taken by France and the United States. Of course we have no right to a monopoly of cotton, nor should we resolve that French cotton spinners are to starve while our own mills are working full time ; but, as the largest consumer of the raw material, we have certainly the right to look after our own interests, and it is our own fault if the superior en terprise of French, Russian, and American traders earry off more than their share of what we so much need. Our deficiencies in this respect should be promptly remedied, for surely we have speculators and capitalists enough to make the ven ture, even if it be not done officially. From Para pay, Dominico, and Antigua, we have favourable accounts. In the latter cotton was formerly calti• vated, and still grows wild with great luxuriance. From several other parts the intelligence is also cheering, independently of our expectations from India, where the prospects are good. The Bengal supply will exceed, it is said, that of last year, in stead of falling short of it as was feared, while in the Punirtub experiments are about to be made with Egyptian seed and :steam ploughs, which are expected to prove highly remunerative. All these various efforts must tend to good—the success of one compensating for the deficiency of another, until we may reasonably hope that within a com paratively short time we may draw a full supply of the precious staple from quarters unaffected by the Transatlantic civil war. ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.—In this frosty weather the fellows of the society are making good use of their ponds and canals, which are only about two feet deep. Ladies have there the opportunity of practising skating secure from the roughness incidental to contact wi, h all corners, which is unavoidable in public places ; and we understand that the council either have already ap pointed, or are about to appoint, an instructress in skating, to attend upon those ladies who desire to acquire this healthful accomplishment. The society's rules of admission to the gardens at South Kensington have been so far re laxed as to allow fellows during the continuance of the frost to admit their friends, either personally or by written orders, on payment of Is. for each person. OUTWARD CAPE MAlL.—(Reuter's Telegrams.) PLYMOUTH, Jan. 6.—The mail steam ship Roman left this port to-night with 41 passengTra and the Cape mails, con sisting of 21 bags of letters, 101 bags of papers, and 14 bags of books. THE CRAWLEY DEFENCE FUND.—The fund which is in progress to relieve Lieut.-Col. Crawley of the expenses incurred by the recent court-martial at Aldershot now amounts to upwards of £1,220. The expenses are said to amount to between £3,000 and 4000. Amongst the contributors to the fund are—Earl Vsne, Lord C. Fitzroy, Lord Hotham, M.P., Lord Colville, the Earl of Orford, the Marchioness of Londonderry, the Dowager Lady Raglan, Lord Leconfield, the Right Hon. Sir George Brown, G.C.8., commander in chief in Ireland ; General Sir G. Bowles, K,C.8., Admiral William Bowles, K.C.8., Gen. Sir J. Aitcheson, K.C.8., Col. the Hon. J. Calthorpe, Ad miral the Hon. Sir Henry Keppell, K.C.8., Col. the Hon. E. Douglas Pennant, M.P., Sir Henry Foules, Dart., Sir F. Adair Roe, Bart., Sir W. Eden, Bart., Rear-Admiral Brunswick Popham, and many distinguished officers of both services. DISCOVERIES AT POMPEIL—The Chronique des Arts states that among the articles recently dis covered at Pompeii is a small head of Juno, in silver, of exquisite workmanship; also the body, in silver, but broken; a bridle-bit in bronze; a lamp in the same metal complete, with cover, suspending chain, an extinguisher; a patera ; a large and handsome vase, with the handles terminated by winged genii holding a cornucopia; other small vases in bronze; and a sea! in that metal bearing the name of the waster of the house in which the articles were found— Lucio Cornelio Diaduweno. ARCHZOLOGY IN FRANCE.—The illoniteur des Arts states that there were discovered a few days since on the Banks of the Rhone, near Lyons, 45 Gille t otubs,the skeletons in which were complete, the faces turned towards the east, and the heads supported by a small (arthern urn. One of the tombs only is formed of Roman tiles, of a very large size. No inscription, arms, or coins of any kind have been found in any of the tombs. rift, SUN, LW DON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 7, 1864, to them by England as eagerly as dogs. No sooner has England proposed conferences than the idea is instantly caught up by these papers and defended. England is the only power which has to fear the union of the Duchies with Germany, be cause such an union offers the possibility of Ger many rising to a naval Power dangerous to English supremacy. England, therefore, acts entirely in her own interest, when she advocates the union of the Duchies with Denmark. The English plan is, nevertheless, defended as energetically by our feudal organs as by the English press. They know right well that they only serve English interests, but they know also that an advance of Prussia and Austria in the national German sense must destroy the reaction. Its preservation is dearer in their eyes than the preservation of the Duchies. " For this reason the scheme of the Landon Con ferences is adopted with eagerness, for it is known that their proceedings would be nothing else than a renewed edition of the London Treaty, and would seal anew the union of the DucLies with Denmark. All will be won if the whole dispute can be peace fully set aside, for the internal policy of the Go vernment will suffer no interruption. "For this reason the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein is bespattered with contumely by the feudal organs ; for this reason the central German States are mocked with the question whether they, single-handed, will make war upon all .Europe; for this reason the full weakness and impotence of the Germanic Diet is laid bare. Bat—we ask again—of what 'avail are large armies if the threats of the foreigners are not repelled with determination, if diplomacy takes every opportunity of sounding the retreat ? Can there be a higher and more splendid reward than the preservation of Schleswig Holstein to Germany ? The history of the last de3ennium should at least have taught us that London Congresses can afford us no species of guarantee against Denmark ; the complete union of the Duchies with Germany affords the only safe guard. "Neither England nor France will hinder this union, whenever Germany—that is, the Great German Powers—earnestly will it. The danger does not lie in the English threats, but depends upon whether this earnest will in reality exists." THE CALCUTTA, CHINA, BOMBAY, AND MAURITIUS MAILS. The following telegram has been received at Mr. Renter's office from the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Jan. .7 : The Valetta, with the above mails, arrived at Marseilles at 7 a.m. this day. The mails were to leave at 11.30 a.m. MARSEILLES, JAN. 7. The Messageriesl Imperiales mail steamer Morris arrived here at 4 a.m. to day with the India and China mails, and the English mail, ex the Candia. FRANCE. The following is the full text of the article in the Constitutionnel, of which a telegraphic summary has already appeared : " For some days the proposition made by England for a restricted Conterence exclusively concerning the Danish question has been under consideration. " England, who has nut believed in the efficacy of a European Congress to settle pending questions, does not entertain the same incredulity as regards a Conference of which she takes the initiative, and which would be called upon to examine a single question. In our opinion, however, instead of being less, the difficulties are grater in a programme restricted to one affair, as the means of conciliation are less numerous and the patch for mutual conces sions narrower. " France has given too many guarantees of her pacific intentions, and of her ardent desire to see resolved, by the sole force of right and justice, the questions which agitate Europe for her good will to be challenged of contributing to the success of com binations tending to the same end, no matter whence they emanate. It is not, therefore, France that will throw obstacles in the way of a restricted Conference. But these benevolent views must not blind us and conceal the real state of things from us. "If the Conference which is now proposed should consist only of the Plenipotentiaries of those Powers that signed the protocol of London of 1852, where are the grounds for hoping it will be more successful in 1864, and that its decisions will have more weight and authority ? " It is true, it is said, that a representative of the German Confederation may be admitted to take part in the Conference. Bat what would be the position of this new plenipotentiary ? Austria and Prussia persisting in adhering to the conditions of the protocol of 1852, what could the representative of the Diet do, backed only by the secondary States, scarcely one-third of Germany opposed to the two great Powers which constitute the two other thirds ? " Would Austria and Prussia be in a better posi- ion, more conformable to the intentions which :hey manifest ? In case the execution of the resolu tion passed should be resolved upon, how woula hose two Powers act against the rest of the Con federation ? It would be civil , war in Germany. " How, moreover, could the statu quo be mains tained during the Conference ? Would coercive measures be adopted to stop the march of events ? It is to be feared that it is too late. What part would the Conference then play deliberating in measure as events hurry on or are modified ? " On the other hand would it not be strange to see the Conference occupied with a question which is actually before the Diet ? Can the same cause be tried at the same time before two tribunals ? Supposing the decisions are contradictory, which is the Supreme Court that would have to give its fiat 7 The European Congress as proposed by the Emperor would alone, evidently, possess such an authority, and we cannot help observing with what rapidity events are showing how much useful and practical was embodied in that great idea. " All these difficulties are serious. We do not wish to diminish them nor magnify them ; but we must not disown them, while we wish all success to the English proposition. It is not, we repeat it, from us that obstacles will be raised, and we con tinue to place our confidence in the wisdom of the Governments and in that spirit of conciliation which anim'stes the Sovereigns." BOURSE, Jaa. 6.—The market remains in the same inanimate state, and without variation in price. Threes, for the Account, are unvaried at 66fr. 65c. Mobilier is slightly lower, being now at 1,035 fr. Railway Market quiet, with little change in quota tions. The market closed as follows :- 41 per Cents ..94 CO Italian Loan .71 25 Do. ead month.... Do. end month.... 71 65 3 per Cents Do. end month.... 66 75 Do. end month - -- Credit Mobilier....lo4o Russian - Do. end m0nth....1046 25 Austrian Bank Shares 3300 Spanish Threes.... -- CreditiP °lacier - - h - lome Debt - Roman RXILWATe. Cash. Account. Orleans 975 .. 975 Northern New ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 927 50 .. 932 50 New ditto SJuthern 676 25 .. 680 Western Eastern Sardinian .. 390 ~ 395 h.ustrian Lombard North of Spain Saragossa .. 617 50 .. 617 50 Ditto to Barcelona .... 295 .. 290 —, Lord Stanley, yesterday, distributed the prizes and certificates awarded to the successful candidates in the Oxford Local Examination for the district of which Man chester is the centre. His loidship delivered an address on the occasion, in which he explained the general purpose and working of these examinations, and dwelt upon the success with which they had been attended. COAL IN BRAZIL.—An important coal-field has recently been discovered in one of the southern Prqvinces of Brazil. Tantalising References to L. E, L.'s Death, " No one lands at Cape Coast Castle without pilgrimag ing to the ' last resting-place of the poetess L. E, L.,' and, of course, without inquiring into her sad, eventful history' which has, however, nothing of romance. For L. E. L.' is known where Miss Landon is not, and her fate has been the subject of curiosity to many that have never read the ' Improvisatrice,' or Romance and Reality.' The graves of Mrs. Maclean and her deeply-injured husband are on the large triangular drill ground of the Castle. It is a local practice to bury dead in dwelling-houses, and the custom is not confined to pagans—the floor of the surgery, the kit chen, and the medical store-rooms of the colonial hospital have all been used for interment. The tramping of soldiery upon the pavement had well-nigh defaced all traces of the tombs, when the pious hand of Grosvenor O'Connor re stored them. " The true history of Mrs. Maclean's death is known to many, but who in writing the life of L. E. L.' would dare to tell it? Owning that de snortuis nil nisi verum should be our motto, how would it be possible to publish facts whilst actors in the tragedy are still upon the stage of lite ? And after their death it will be forgotten. The author of a certain report on the Gold Coast during his short and feverish residence as Commissioner, a guest of President Maclean, succeeded in casting upon his host's public efficiency a serious slur, which was afterwards satis factorily removed by a select committee of the House of Commons. On the other hand, the author of ' Eighteen Years on the Gold Coast,' showed himself an injudicious friend, far worse than any foe, by asserting that after a certain esclandre, the household was very successful. But enough of these private matters. Mr. Forster, M.P. for Berwick, the warmest of President Maclean's well-wishers, openly asserted that the flood of calumny poured upon him arose from the enmity of an individual in the Colonial-office who was pettily jealous because affairs at the Gold Coast, with a miserable pittance ot LlOOO, were managed wore effec tually than at the pet S'a Leone, where economy has never been the order of the day. Hence the President of the Coun cil of Government, than whom a better servant of Govern ment was never known on this coast, was charged with having encouraged slavery under the local name 'pawning' —a fatal accusation in those days,—and with neglecting official duty for private correspondence. " Standing by graves we heard the story of Mrs. Mac lean's death, and nothing could be less probable than the popular version. A homeward-bound vessel was preparing to sail. At 7 a.m. she left her husband's room, and pro ceeded to write letters before dressing in the little room opposite, once used as an observatory. A Mrs. Bailey, her servant, had been sent to the store. room to fetch some article ; she returned after a few minutes, and found against the door a weight, which proved to be the corpse of her mistress. The servant distinctly asserted what has been since denied, that a phial was still in the dead woman's hand, and that the phial contained a preparation of prussic acid. But here comes the rub. The authoress's spirits had been weakened, she had ceased to play at ball, and she was suffering from a heart disease which produced fits or spasms. The local account, however, is that she was in the habit of taking prussic acid to stimulate her energies, a use probably unknown to Scheele. At any rate, calumny found its way home, and the President was reduced to the secondary positionof JudiciallAssessor at Cape Coast Castle• There he died in May, 1847, to the deep and lasting regret of the whole population, black and white."— Wanderings in Western Africa. ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.—On Monday evening next, at half-past 8, Sir R. I. Murchison, K.C.8., president, in the chair, the following papers will be read :- 1. " Mustakh Glacier;" by Capt. Edwin Austin. 2. "Re port on the Non-auriferous Character of West Australia ;" by E. H. Hargraves, Esq. BATH ABBEY is to be restored by Mr. G. G. Scott, preserving, we hope, the corrupt, but very curious west front, which is decorated with a representation of Jacob's Dream, angels going up and down ladders, carved on the whole facade. THACKERAY can never be placed among the pure satirists, it has lately been remarked, like Dryden, or Swift, or Pope, or even Byron—(Byron scarcely ever shows real genius, except when the gleam of the cynical steel, or at the least his delight in the destructive forces of nature, bares itself to us in his poetry)—nor even among the pure humourists, like Addison, or Lamb, or Sterne, or Dickens—nor among the pure artists, like Miss Austen, or Sir Walter Scott, or George Eliot—but he will always form a class by himself as a great satirical artist, blending almost equally the poignant and destructive•venom of the satirist with the genial fertility of the creative imagination in which all sorts of life-like images spring up like flowers, and spring from germs which seem quite independent of the peculiar bias of the artist's own character. CHURCH OF TORCELLO,—A correspondent of the Builder describes the present condition of the famous and beautiful basilia at Torcello, Venice, as a melancholy one. The Austrian Government, it is averred, about four years ago commissioned a mosaicist to restore the invalu- able and almost unique mosaic representing the Resurrec tion and Day of Judgment at the west end of this build ing," a process which he understood, as restorers are wont. to be best accomplished by ripping off the old mosaic by wholesale, and substituting his modem antique in its place. The result was, as may be guessed, impending ruin of perhaps the whole." But tue Govern ment, discovering that the process was taking this unfor tunate form, and that the ancient work, as well as time worn, was being removed, stopped the business, and, it is said, incarcerated the operator. From that time to this the mosaic has remained untouched; it is bulging, tattered' falling, and threatening destruction. A MORGANATIC FAUX PAS.—The brother of the King of Portugal, Prince Leopold Francis of Saxe- Coburg-Gotha, born in 1824. and for some time general in the Austrian service, gave his hand, in April, 1861, to a 'Miss Constance Geiger, the daughter of a poor teacher of music at Vienna. The marriage made a great noise at the time, being doomed an insult, not only to all the high rela tives of the prince, but to German royalty in general. It ap pears that Prince Leopold, in the first instance, intended to make the matter as respectable as possible, by getting a title for his young bride—the easiest thing, under ordinary circumstances, in Austria, titular honours and dignities being plentiful in the market, and cheap as blackberries— but that, in his case, he met unexpected difficulties, aris ing in high quarters, it being expected, probably, that ho would give up his morganatic ideas on finding himself driven to unite his lot with an absolute and un disguised plebeian. But Prince Leopold, either fairly in love or with a soul above buttons, thought other wise. He not only married Miss Constance Geiger, but made the ceremony as grand as possible, riding to church, at the side of his fair bride, in a State carriage emblazoned with the world-famous arms of Saxe- Coburg, and with lackeys and out-riders innumerable. Behind, in a long file, followed all the Geigers, great and little, and half the personnel of the theatres of Vienna : old and new acquaintances of the happy faMily, whose previous business had been chiefly with the stage and stage melody. The word " Geiger" in Geman signifies fiddler, and there being in the bridal procession several other persons with equally conspicuous names, such as "Horn," "Piper," and "Singer," the _Punch of Vienna had a good time of it for weeks to come. The error of their ways was im mediately discovered by the imperial authorities, who then granted unasked the title and dignities which they had before refused. Prince Leopold's morgan atic spouse is now a Baroness von Ruttenstein, duly en rolled in the long list of Austrian noblesse, comprising a notable portion of the population of the empire.—Spectator. A WORKHOUSE TREAT.—It is pleasant to find that the genial festivities of this holiday season extend even to our paupers, who might certainly be sup posed to be beyond the pale of Christmas mirth and merri ment. A very interesting gathering took place at the Strand Union on Monday last, when, thanks to the guar dians, and • the benevolent exertions of Mr. Acres, the chaplain of the institution, tea and refreshments were pro• vided for all the able-bodied inmates, followed by a little rational entertainment. The inmates were assembled in the large room of the workhouse ordinarily used as a chapel, where the chaplain and his friends amused them with music, recitations, the exhibition of a microscope, &c., with very great success, It was gratifying to see the warmth with which Mr. Thom, the able and popular master, was greeted when appearing before them, as it proved how powerful is the influence of kindness and good feeling, even amid the roughest and least cultivated classes. In proof that Mr. Thom is no less effective as a disciplinarian than popular as a master, the order maintained throughout by the large body of men and women assembled was perfect, no voice being taised except in applause or laughter, when something in the perfor mances especially delighted them. An interesting feature in the evening's entertainment was the presentation of a handsome volume to the labour-master, who was on the eve of leaving the establishment. The bo, k in question had been subscribed for by the inmates of the house, who wished to present him with some token of gratitude and esteem. In the sick, infirm, and convalescent wards, Miss Twining and some friends had also provided tea and cake to the great delight of the poor sufferers, so that no part of the vast establishment was left uncheered or uncared for. Several of the guardians were present, and altogether the affair went off most satisfactorily. We hope it will not be the last of its kind ; since such acts of spontaneous kindness and evidences of sympathy are warmly appreciated by those whose existence is at best but a dreary and monotonous routine, while anything that tends to humanize them, to remove the feeling thst they are out laws and outcasts, for whom anything is good enough, is a real and substantial benefit. The experience of the other evening, too, may convince lookers on that these classes are capable of enjoying rational pleasures, and will, we hope, induce the managers of other workhouses to emulate the kindliness and good feeling shown by the authorities of the Strand Union. Now that the winter has set in with more than usual severity, it will be a great boon to the thousands who are suffering from coughs, colds, asthmas (all which affections are intensified by the great change), to know that the best remedy and the one which alone has stood the test of time is Erwell'e Balsam of Aniseed. Whoso is suffering from asthma, coughs, or colds, &c,, will find a safe and speedy remedy in this specific.—ADYT. ' ...d _ ,I A art s N eirtubr. so, rviv, HER MAJESTY. OSBORNE, JAN. 6. The Queen, accompanied by Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold, walked in the grounds yesterday. The Prince and Princess of Wales. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, ac companied by the equerry in waiting and atten dants, went out shooting yesterday morning. In the afternoon the Prince of Wales tend suite went skating on the ice, which now covers the canal or ornamentai water at Frogmore. The increasing frost of Tuesday and yesterday has rendered the ice extremely thick, and it is now in first rate condition for the skaters. The Prince and the suite enjoyed this healthy recreation for some time, and were on the ice till a late hour in the afternoon. PRINCE ALFRED.—His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, accompanied by MajorCowell,arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, having travelled from London by the night train. It is expected that his Royal Highness will be the guest of Lord and Lady Belhaven, at Wishaw House, to-morrow and on Saturday next. • Tne Duke of Hamilton left the family mansion in Arlington-street, Piccadilly, on Tuesday, for his seat, Easton Park, Suffolk, where his grace and a select party of friends intend to have a few days' shooting. The Earl and Countess of Day , are entertaining his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge and a distin guished company at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire. The Duke and Duchess of Manchester, the Earl and Countess of Hardwicke and Lady Agneta Yorke and the Hon. Elliot Yorke, Viscount Hamilton, M.P., Lord Henry G. Leunox, M.P., Sir Henry and Lady Siphia Des Venus, and Colonel Clifton, in waiting on the Duke of Cambridge, are of the party enjoying the hospitalities of the noble earl and countess. The Earl of Lonsdale is expected to return to town to-morrow, from Ventnor, Isle of Wight. The Earl and Countess of Yarborough, accom panied by the Ladies Hare, passed through town on Tues day, for Sutton Place, near Staplehurst, Kent, on a visit to Sir Edmund and the Hon. Lady Filmer, from Brocklesby, Lincolnshire. _ _ Viscount Hinehingbroke has left town to join the party visiting Sir Edmund and Hon. Lady Filmer, at Sutton-place, Kent. Lady Bloomfield is expected to return to the Dowager Lady Bloomfield's residence, at Rutland-gate, to morrow, from Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Adeane's seat in Cambridgeshire, where her ladyship has been staying since Monday last. DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAL WALPOLE, R.E.— We have to record the death of Major-General John Walpole, who died on Monday last at his temporary resi dence in Charles-sheet, St. James's. Gen. Walpole had been in active service since 1816. His commission as lieutenant bore dee 24th Sept., 1825; captain, 28th Nov., 1839 ; major, 15th Sept., 1848 ; lieutenant-colonel, 7th Feb., 1854; colonel, 28th Nov., 1854; and major•general, 9th March, 1863. A MUNIFICENT GlFT.—Lady Cotton Sheppard has presented £250 to the National Lifeboat Institution, £5O of which she has collected in various sums amongst her Friends and neighbours, for a lifeboat to be stationed at Porthdiullaen, on the Carnarvonshire coast. Her ladyship, who takes the warmest interest in the National Lifeboat Institution, has herself already given £lOO for two boats, one of which is stationed at Port Rush, and the other at Porthcawl. The latter boat was instrumental a short time since in rescuing, during a heavy gale of wind, the crew of LO men from the schooner Champion, of Liverpool, wrecked off Pcrthcawl. INQUIRY INTO THE CONDUCT OF A LIFEBOAT CREW,—An important inquiry into charges of cowardice and inefficiency made against the crew of the Holyhead lifeboat has just terminated at Holyhead, before the Hon. W. 0. Stanley and a large number of magistrates and other influential persons. The readers of :the Sun will remember that thie lifeboat was the means of rescuing 48 during the gale of the 3d Dec. last. Notwithstanding this, the largest number ever saved by one lifeboat on a single occasion, the above charge was made by the father of Captain Armitage, master a, d owner of the brig West bourne, who perished with all his crew. Captain Priest, R.N., honorary agent to the Lifeboat Institution at that port, was also accused of sending incorrect and garbled reports to the committee of that ins itution. From the ex amination of a number of witnesses it transpired that nine out of the 13 men who constituted the paid crew of the boat refused to go out on the morning is question, but in two hours nine other men volunteered to take their place, and during the 3d and 4th Deo they Wei t 1 out repeatedly in the height of the gale. The zesult of the investigation was that the nine men who held back were censured, and the 'Mon- teer crew highly commended for their gallantry, The charge against Capt. Priest was declared unfounded, and a report to that. effect was forwarded to the National Lifeboat Institution. The latter has rewarded the nine men who volunteered with £3 each, and the old crew who stuck to their colours with £4 each. STUCK IN THE MUD.!—In 1862 Lord Derby for mally proclaimed an armistice for the year ; and _ . when, in 1863, hostilities were supposed to be resumed, the course of events was precisely similar. Mr, Disraeli himself has almost ceased to organise party combinations since the Galway contract subsided into its character of a professed Irish job. There is no use in attacking Lord Russell, because the country has not the smallest desire to restore Lord Mal mesbury to the Foreign-office. Sir C, Wood is practically exempt from criticism in a house which knows nothing about India, and for the present he is covered from attack by the popular nomination of Sir John Lawrence as Vice• roy. If, indeed, the frontier warfare should assume larger proportions, India would, as in 1856 and 1857, once more become the centre of political interest; but in ordinary times the smallest European transaction is more attractive to popular curiosity, The Home Department may perhaps occupy a portion of the time of the House of Commons with unexciting questions of prison discipline, but Sir G. Grey will scarcely run even the trifling risk of bringing forward another abortive bill for the reform of the City Corporation. When Parliament, or any political party, cares as much for abolishing the Mansion House as the Aldermen and. Com mon Council for defending it, it is probable that modern municipal theories will at last be too powerful for Gog and Magog. To hirer politicians, a powerless dignitary who employs himself in giving splendid dinners seems an insti tution, or fiction, which is neither intolerable nor wholly useless. The vitality of the Government depends on Lord Palmerston's health far more than on his measures. Per haps, half a dozen years hence, the standing commonplace of conversation may be the obvious remark that a Minister of 85 cannot be expected to last much longer,—b'aturday Revzew. USELESS SELF-SACRIFICE.—The authoress of the " Chronicles of Carlingford," says a critic in the . Saturday Review, furnishes in one of her latter stories, a very apt and truthful illustration of the complicated wretch' edness of a half-consummated, fruitless self-sacrifice. In "The Doctor's Family, the sharp and bustling little Nettie, sister of the indolent and childish handsome wife of the Doctor's indolent, spritless, and drunken bi other Fred. hot almost as a matter of courise,appropriated to herself the duty of governing, providing for, clothing, educating, a nd, in fact, keeping alive the whole establishment. Out of sheer kindness of heart and energy of spirit, she has taken the burden off the lazy baCks of those who wore bound by laW and by nature to bear the responsibility of maintaining themselves and their children. She sacrifices to them day by day her money, her strength, her brain, and almost her heart , and her sister and brother-in- law take it equal)l as a matter of course, and day by day become more helplesa s and dependent, and more incapable of gratitude. When' poor Fred tumbles into the water in a state ot tipsy stupi" dity, the task of dragging the whole family back from Bug" land to Australia falls upon the shoulders et Nettie, wbi je the pretty widow can do nothing but sit maundering ove r " poor Fred's" eminent virtues ; and, but for the reappear ante of an old Australian flame, who soon obliterates the remembrance of Fred, and consoles the widow into a second marriage, the story must have ended by the disappearan ce of its heroine to another hemisph. re, leaving behind eyed gleam of personal happiness, and carrying with her a hope' less and ceaseless burden. Probably the Netties of real life seldom have the luck to find a willing and able-bodied sub' stitute, happy to walk jauntily off with the weight nude: which their bruised faculties and disappointed feelings are staggering. People who, by the common consent of thei r acquaintance, are called " pour Freds" at the best of tirat°' generally contrive, either living or dead, to oppress the cell: scientious victims of their unprincipled imbecility to the en' The natural consequence, in nine cases out of ten, of such a self-immolation as Nettie made, would be for her to Per; form the journey back to Australia , and th e r e work herself to death in apathetic energy under the insane worryinge f the sister for whom she had given up everything, bullie' and neglected by the naughty children (of whom only th naughtiest seems to have repaid her devotion with geneil le love), and with the dull consciousness that she might Per haps have acted more wisely and more rightly in 8110 04 herself free before the suttee of her own independent 0. 0 " ence had been entirely accomplished. ST. CLEMENT AT RoME.—Father Mtillooleyt the Irish Dominican Convent ot St. Clement, ! prosecuting with great zeal his subterranean researches under that venerable basilica, and has had the satisfa cti° a to discover a fresco painting illustrative of the life martyrdom of the saint, accompanied by many details "t ritual and costume, which are most prrcious to the stud of Christian archanta logy. With regard to the date of t t painting just exhumed, the Cavalicre De Rossi, the grl, authority in such cases, does not allow it a grea ter 09` quity than the eighth century. Mc Novi of the of the broker at 6`F rnodati for gol on hail dered A.bc Bank The York The to this perio 1 avou biotic an gr: 'whet MI on re line i ltobi Lion s as h 4 Co. tim e duce cor m Will Plac port Bon per on attic Pric w e/ lira 0 4 the MI not i ; the arc vip 47- 40, Li so So LATEST INTELLIGENCE. [REUTER'S TELEGRAM.] ULTIMATUM TO DENMARK. THE POLICY OF THE CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. BERLIN, JAN. 4. The Ber'iner Borsenzeitung says : "As the constitution of the 18th of November has not been withdraNs n by Denmark, and the eventuality stated here as constituting a casus belli by the Ist January has therefore taken place, we understand that it is intended to for ward an ultimatum to Denmark, categorically demanding this withdrawal, and return to the statu quo in 1846, previous to the issue of the so-called Public, Letter, up to which period Schleswig-Holstein was simply connected with Denmerk by dynastic union. Ii is further expected that two army corps will be mobilised, and marching orders issued to the troops already upon a war footing, in order to impart the the requisite emphasis to this demand. It is at any rate certain that the next few days will bring decisive events, and it may be also assumed, so far as we are acquainted with the prevalent views, that patience is finally exhausted, and that energetic advance may be expected." It is reported in well-informed circles that the Crown Prince has repeatedly expressed himself towards the King in favour of the succession of the Hereditary Prince Frederick of Augustenburg in the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies. The Crown Prince is said to keep up an animated correspondence with Duke Frederick. The liberal current in high quarters in favour of the Duchies has made progress since his Royal Highness's return. It is known that both the Crown Prince and Crown Princess have been acting in this direction in England, but with little success. The Prince of Wales, repre senting the interests of his father-in-law, the Danish King, is reported to possess great influence over the Queen, Information has also been received that the Crown Prince has expressed his concurrence in the foreign policy of Herr von Bismark in an especially graci ous manner. During the holidays the Minister President and his lady dined at the palace of the Crown Prince. ALTONA, JAN. 4. Private letters received from Rendsburg report that the Kronenwerk suburb of Rendsburg was occupied by the Saxon Federal troops, under Lieut.- General von Hake, on the 2d inst. This concession is said to have been mooted by the Commander-in- Chief of the Danish troops in Schleswig, and to have been sanctioned by his Majesty, by advice of Captain Lundbye, the Minister of War, upon the King's visit to the army. Upon the other hand, the Danes are reported to have decisively refused to give up to the Federal troops the six villages on the north of the Eider, formerly included in Holstein. It is stated also that the Danes and Saxons nar rowly escaped coming into collision previous to the evacuation of the Kronenwerk. Lieut.-Gen. Von Kake, having occupied the rest of the town, wee proceeding to march his men into the disputea suburb, when the Danish Major. General Von Stein man planted a company of infantry, with ►evelled bayonets, upon the Sluice-bridge. The Saxons thereupon drew back, and negotiations were com menced. KIEL, JAN. 1. Yesterday and to-day Duke Frederick has been occupied in receiving deputations, which have hurried in to congratulate him, and express the joy of the country at his appearance. Several corpora tions of the town also had audiences. At twelv., o'clock to-day a deputation of ladies waited the Dole to present him with an embroidered flag. About two o'clock some 400 mounted peasants and countryfolks paraded before the Duke, each man being decorated with the Schleswig-Holstein colours—blue, white, and red. The Holstein colour, red and white, are rarely visible, and the Danish cockade has entirely disappeared. " THE ENGLISH THREATS." BRELAU, JAN. 3. Tho Breslau Zeitung of this morning publishes a leader under the above heading, of which the following is a translation : " The warning which Lord Russell has given the Federal Diet in case of the remote possibility of over-hasty steps,' is followed by the threat that, in the event of German troops crossing the Eider, England would ' not be able to afford avoiding the assistance requested by Denmark.' We must take our chance of the not being able to avoid.' It is to be hoped England will herself foPow the advice she so condescendingly imparts to the Federal Diet, and beware of over-hasty steps.' Earl Russell will, no doubt, be able to avoid,' even if German troops should cross the Eider. "In what would the English assistance con sist ? Two Prussian army corps, together with the Federal troops in Holstein would probably be quite sufficient to hold an English army in check; and as for a blockade of the German ports. The Eng lish Parliament would probably reflect even longer than the Federal Diet before it occasioned such deep wounds to English commerce by an over hasty step,' as would Lnquestionablv be made by a blockade of the German ports. With full right English policy is especially a trading policy, bat just upon that very ground the argument would have great weight with the English Parlia ment, whether a war undertaken on Denmalk's account, would do more damage to English than to German commerce. "Lord Russell has not so easy a position as Herr von Bismarck. While, for example, in Prussia the Ministry can declare it will wage war with or without the consent of the Chamber of Deputies, the very peculiar arrangement, incomprehensible elsewhere, exists that the consent of the Parliament is requisite to levy war, and that for the very simple reason that war costs money. This arrangement may be regarded as very narrow minded and extraordinary tasteless, but the English appear to be of opinion that the people have a right, to be heard where the people's blood and treasure are in question. " Until, therefore, the English Parliament has spoken the English threats are not of great impor tance, particularly as England in this question can rely less than ever upon France. For the Emperor of the French looks upon the isolation of England as an opportune punishment for the rejection of this European Congress. He is averse to the restricted conferences proposed by England for the decision of the nano-German conflict for the fur ther reason that they retard or entirely prevent his favourite European Congress scheme. England will hardly undertake an over-hasty step 'against Germany without the support of France. " We entertain far greater fear of Austria and Prussia than we do of the English throats. Eng land, in fact, may save herself all notes and des patches ; Prussia and Austria will tuk, good care that the Federal Diet is not csrried awe.y over hasty steps.' " It is a positively disgusting sight to behold how our feudal organs rmh at the hone east